Murray flies to New York to step up US Open preparations

Andy Murray flew to New York last night to step up his preparations for the US Open, which starts on 28 August. The Scot, who will lose his World No 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal on Monday, has not played since his Wimbledon quarter-final loss to Sam Querrey.

He has been dealing with a hip injury and missed the last two ATP events, in Montreal and this week’s Cincinnati Masters, although he has always insisted that skipping them was intended to give him the best chance of lining up in the season’s final grand slam event.

His sore hip saw him limp through to the last eight at Wimbledon, where he ran out of steam and lost to American Querrey after leading by two sets to love. Announcing his withdrawal from the Cincinnati event, he said: “I’m continuing to work hard on the court with the aim of being in New York.”

It remains to be seen how his hip stands up to a heavy practice schedule.

Murray won his first major title in New York in 2012 and has previously said that the US Open is his favourite grand slam tournament.

Former World No 1 Novak Djokovic, defending champion Stan Wawrinka and world No 9 Kei Nishikori have already announced they won’t play in the event.